Donate books and save $5 on "Sid the Science Kid"

Bring your books to the State Theatre and get a discount on tickets for Jim Henson’s "Sid The Science Kid Live" Sunday.

The State Theatre Center is holding a book drive to collect books for the Easton Area Public Library.

Donate books at the State Theatre Box Office and receive a five dollar discount off the ticket price to see "Sid The Science Kid Live" with shows at 1 and 4 p.m. The discount is good for up to four tickets and is limited to one per household. Regular ticket price is $18.

The Easton Area Public Library was formed as the Easton Library Company in 1811. Its current location on Church Street in Easton was completed in 1903 with numerous additions and expansions in subsequent years. This building was made possible by a grant from Andrew Carnegie and is one of 59 public libraries in Pennsylvania that was built using grants from the Carnegie Corporation. Branches in Palmer Township and South Side Easton have allowed the Easton Area Public Library to better serve the community.

Sid the Science Kid has been introducing tots to “super, duper, ooper, schmooper” science since 2008.

The inquisitive preschooler stars in an animated TV show on PBS Kids, created by Jim Henson Co and now he takes the stage in a live show.

Little ones can join May, Gabriela and Gerald, teacher Miss Susie and, of course, Sid, in a musical production that explores the five senses through experiments and observations.

The live show was developed by Broadway performer Michael Lewis and Tony-nominated actor and puppeteer John Tartaglia.

Tartaglia has a long background in children’s programming. He spent 12 years operating puppets on “Sesame Street.” He also played Lumiere in “Disney's Beauty and the Beast” and Pinocchio in “Shrek the Musical” on Broadway, and created the Playhouse Disney show “Johnny and the Sprites.” He also created the off-Broadway puppet show “ImaginOcean” and helped develop Jim Henson’s “Dinosaur Train Live! Buddy's Big Adventure,” both of which came to Miller Symphony Hall last year.

In “Sid,” actors wear life-size costumes made by artists of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop to play characters from the show. Tartaglia calls them “articulated walk-arounds.”

“On the show, the kids are really active running and dancing around,” Tartaglia says. “Our goal was to make the kids feel like their friends were coming to visit them.”

Miss Susie is the only character played by an actor without a costume. Tartaglia says she acts as “the bridge to the audience.”

In the show, Sid sets up a scene with a question such as “Why are my shoes shrinking?” or “Why do bananas get mushy?” Then the characters embark on an adventure to find the answer.

Tartaglia says the show takes something as simple as bouncing a ball and uses it to teach concepts such as inflation and gravity to make it a “huge learning experience.”

“One of the things I really love about the show is it takes simple things and turns them into accessible lessons that are fun,” he says.

The show has touched on so many great concepts, Tartaglia says, that the biggest challenge was to narrow it down for the live show. He took guidance from the show’s music.

“The show is very musical and there are a lot of great songs about the five senses,” he says. “Since the audience would be seeing and hearing everything, it seemed true to the series to focus on that.”

Miss Susie even introduces a “special sixth sense,” he says.

“Sid The Science Kid” follows a long line of preschool shows from Jim Henson Co. that includes “Bear In The Big Blue House,” “Muppet Babies,” “Pajanimals” and “Dinosaur Train.”

Lisa Henson, executive producer on the series, says the company’s goal is to introduce preschoolers to Sid’s world as he explores science topics in “Jim Henson Co. style, with wonder, enthusiasm and a healthy dose of humor.”

Children at the show will be asked to use their sight to look for things, and experiment with their hearing by covering and uncovering their ears and observing how it changes the sound.

“Many people don’t realize science can be very active,” Tartaglia says. “The idea is to get kids at a young age to engage in science in a way that is relatable.”